Rozanski made reference to efforts by the Most Rev. Bishop Timothy A. McDonnell, who Rozanski succeeds, to ensure students accepted at Cathedral High School, whose tornado-damaged Springfield campus should be under repair this fall, will be able to afford to attend. The Cathedral Endowment Fund for Tuition Assistance, which was established in December, with a goal of $10 million, currently has $4.5 million in pledges and commitments.

"We need to really work on the affordability of Catholic education for middle class parents and their children. We need to look at what it means to build up an endowment for tuition scholarships, something Bishop McDonnell has started here, particularly with Cathedral High. I would encourage building up endowments for scholarships, for both elementary and high schools," said Rozanski, whose schooling was entirely through the Catholic education system.

"Addressing the cost of Catholic education is imperative, if we are to keep our Catholic schools open. (In Baltimore, there was) a partnering with the business community, who helped us sponsored scholarships, particularly for underprivileged youth."

Rozanski made reference to the Cristo Rey Jesuit High School, in Baltimore. The school, whose name means "Christ the King," is part of the Cristo Rey Network, founded by Jesuit John P. Foley, where students work five days a month, in corporations that partner with the network, to help fund their Catholic high school education. The network has 28 schools in 18 states, and the District of Columbia. The some 9,000 enrolled are predominately students of color, from families with an average income of $34,000.

Baltimore, an older and much larger diocese than Springfield, has two diocesan seminaries, and four colleges and universities. It also has seven high schools, diocesan and parish, with an enrollment of 3,331, and an enrollment of 15, 337 in elementary schools, diocesan and parish.

Springfield has four diocesan and parish high schools, with an enrollment of 1,048, and 16 diocesan and parish elementary schools, with a total enrollment of 4,039. Its one college, Elms, has an enrollment of 1,268 students. The diocese has close to 17,000 students, who do not attend Catholic schools, but who are enrolled in religious education classes, some 5,272 at the high school level, and another 11,089 at the elementary level.

A 2010 study, "The Economic Benefits Produced by Archdiocese of Baltimore Catholic
Schools & Their Graduates," done for the Baltimore archdiocese, noted that between "1970 and 2000, there was a net loss of 3,595 Catholic schools in the U.S., a decline of 30 percent."

"This trend has been accelerating," the study noted. "For example, in 2005, 38 Catholic schools were opened, but 223 closed or merged. This is not primarily a reflection of society-wide disinterest in high quality education, but rather a function of urban economics. Catholic schools have in many cases existed in urban settings, but Catholic populations have often shifted to the suburbs, reducing the level of demand for this form of private education, in the older communities in which many of these schools operate."

There has been a consolidation of Catholic schools in the Springfield diocese, which covers the four counties of Western Massachusetts, during the last 10 years. Once free, Catholic dioceses began charging tuition for parochial schools four decades ago. Parents unable to afford fees turned to public schools, growing network of charter schools or, in some instances, home schooling.

"Catholic schools are crucial in transmitting the faith, and in supporting parents in their roles as teachers of the faith, and in helping to educate our children - life long - in being able to live in the faith," Rozanski said in the interview.

"The challenges we face today are that the cost of education is prohibited for many families, and, in the past, we relied on the Sisters, who made very low wages or a stipend to get by on, but who did such a wonderful job in teaching in our schools. Of course, that has changed today, greatly. The role of Catholic education is to have teachers who are imbued with Catholicism, and who are able to clearly teach our Catholic faith to our children."

It was announced this summer that a $500,000 grant from the MassMutual Life Insurance Company would fund Future Leaders Scholarships at Cathedral High. The grant will allow Cathedral High School to award $5,000 in scholarship money to 20 Springfield students, with B averages or better, and demonstrated financial need, enrolling for the first time at the school this fall. The scholarships, which will help students defray the school's annual tuition cost of $9,300, are renewable for four years, and in the fifth year, another 20 new students will be awarded scholarships. The school, which expects to increase enrollment to at least 244 students this fall, has also been authorized to award the International Baccalaureate Diploma.

The Baltimore study documented the success of Catholic school graduates, in statistics gathered by the Sage Policy Group, and noted that as a result of "their elevated academic achievement and their willingness to contribute socially through volunteer and other activities, Catholic schools are disproportionately able produce organizational and civic leaders who disproportionately contribute to quality of life."